Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Nov 8: Equity benchmark indices ended 0.8 per cent lower after a volatile afternoon session on Friday as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded India’s sovereign outlook from stable to negative on mounting concerns that the economic slowdown will be prolonged.

Moody’s also took rating actions on 11 Indian financial institutions, eight corporates and seven sovereign-linked infrastructure companies. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 330 points or 0.8 per cent lower at 40,324 while the Nifty 50 moved down by 104 points to 11,908.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the negative terrain except for Nifty realty which gained by 1.6 per cent and private bank by 0.7 per cent.

Nifty pharma dipped by 2.2 per cent, PSU bank by 1.9 per cent and FMCG by 1.8 per cent as investors kept their bets low amid mixed Q2 corporate earnings. Among stocks, Bharti Infratel was a prominent loser with a drop of 4.9 per cent. Sun Pharma dipped by 4.3 per cent, GAIL by 3.9 per cent, UPL by 3.7 per cent and Vedanta by 3.2 per cent.

Among the gainers were private lenders like Yes Bank which moved up by 4.8 per cent, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Meanwhile, Asian stocks retreated after an initial rally as uncertainty about the fate of trade negotiations between the United States and China kept investors on their toes.

While Japan’s Nikkei moved up by 0.26 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 0.7 per cent, South Korean Kospi by 0.3 per cent and Shanghai Composite by 0.49 per cent.